iPhone
Bootleg manga? There’s an app for that!
Screenshot from the MangaDL app
Yesterday, someone at Anime News Network noticed that a free iPhone/iPad app called Manga Rock was scooping bootleg manga — in this case, scans of books published in the U.S. — from a scanlation site. Yen Press has already contacted Apple to ask that the app be taken down until all Yen titles are removed, but since the developer claims not to be affiliated with the site the scans are taken from, it’s difficult to see how this could be enforced. Manga Rock was still available this morning, although apparently Apple has pulled a similar app, MangaDL, from its store; the developers profess ignorance as to why.
Here’s why that doesn’t matter: There are still plenty of multi-comic manga apps on the iTunes store, and every one of them is a mobile reader for a scanlation site. All of them. Some legitimate comics reader apps carry a smattering of manga, but so far the manga publishers themselves have stuck to the older model of publishing each chapter as a separate app. That’s an expensive and clumsy way to read comics; the paradigm has shifted, but the manga publishers haven’t responded.
The publishers should be worried about this. From the user comments on these things, users like the convenience and the features, as well as the fact that for a buck or two (or nothing, if they don’t mind ads) they can read a ton of manga for free and keep it forever. Some users may not realize what’s going on. Some of the interfaces look pretty slick, and since Apple vets all apps, it’s reasonable to assume they wouldn’t let anything as blatant as a mobile version of Onemanga.com into their store. Reasonable, but incorrect.
I’m sure that publishers can tick off a lot of reasons why a multi-title reader would be hard to do. Japanese creators are notoriously reluctant to part with digital rights, and the reader would have to include titles from many publishers, not just one. But if I were reading comments like “I’ve been looking to buy fruits basket (my favorite manga series) and now I have them for 2$ !! Hehe I’m so happy:)” I’d be looking hard for a way to make it work.
The Carrier digital graphic novel to be available on iPad Saturday
I spoke with Evan Young last year about his iPhone graphic novel The Carrier. It’s about a guy wakes up in a dark room with no idea how he got there, who he is, or why a titanium briefcase is shackled to his wrist, and it mixes traditional comic book storytelling with various real-world iPhone features, including geolocation, email and messaging.
Young sent over word this morning that The Carrier will be one of the launch applications for Apple’s new iPad this Saturday.
“The Carrier will help showcase the iPad comic book experience to a world that is extremely interested in the potential of this new device,” Yougn said in a press release. “A lot is being said about what the iPad can do for the comic book industry and publishers of other types of media. As a small-press publisher and creator, all I can say is, we’ll see. For now, let’s buckle in for the ride.”
iVerse Media’s iPad app expected to be available at launch
iVerse on the iPad
Digital comics provider iVerse Media announced today the latest version of their iVerse Comics application, which runs on the iPhone, iPod Touch and “Apple’s new ‘magical’ iPad device.”
“We’d all been waiting for Apple to announce the iPad, and once the specifics were finally known, our team began putting together our plans for the device the same day,” said iVerse Media founder and CEO Michael Murphey in a press release. “It’s been a long 60 or so days, but I’m incredibly proud of our team, and I think people are really going to love the application.”
Murphey said that they expect the iVerse Comics application to be available on the iPad when it is released this Saturday. Through the application, users can download comics from Marvel, Image, IDW, BOOM! and many other publishers.
‘If people are going to be able to access this on the iPad from day one no matter what, we really needed to make sure we put our best face forward,” Murphey said. “So we had to build a completely new application from scratch, then marry that to our existing app. The end result gives the user the best possible experience on whatever device they’re using.”
Per the press release, long time users of iVerse Comics will have the ability to download new, high resolution, iPad files of their previously purchased comics for no additional cost. They’ve also added a “zoom” feature for both the iPhone and iPad versions of the app, while the iPad version will alos include preview images. They plan to add preview images to the iPhone in the coming weeks.
Check out a video preview of the iPad app after the jump …
Slash Print | Following the digital evolution
Devices: Manga expert Jason Thompson checks out iPhone apps for reading scanlations. Ironically, this article appears on the website of comiXology, the creators of the legit comics-reading app.
Creators: Lucy Knisley discusses both digital media and her favorite comics store at Question Riot.
Creators: Overflow Magazine profiles Dean Haspiel and the Brooklyn comics community, which includes such notables as Becky Cloonan, Vasilos Lolos, Mike Cavallaro, and George O’Connor. (Via The Beat.)
Webcomics: Delos Woodruff reviews King Spot, a comic that mixes text and images in an unusual fashion.
Devices: Japanese artist Aya Fujii is publishing the yaoi manga Peach Boy: MOMO & MIKAN on the Kindle in English and Japanese.
Box 13 headed to print courtesy of Red 5 Comics
Box 13
Box 13 writer David Gallaher sent word over the weekend that Box 13, the digital comic he created with artist Steve Ellis, is headed to the printed page, courtesy of Red 5 Comics.
Based on a syndicated radio series, Box 13 “is the story of newspaperman-turned-mystery novelist Dan Holliday, who kind of hires himself out as a detective to get ideas for his stories,” Gallaher told me last October. “It was a high-noir, high-adventure series, but it was certainly a product of its time. Our re-imagining of the series incorporates many of the noir elements of the original serial, but with a bunch of John Frankenheimer, Patrick McGoohan, Alex Toth, and Peter O’Donnell added to the mix. There is gunplay, conspiracy, romance, psychological drama, train chases, motorcycle chases, and danger! But, at its heart, it’s a story about rediscovering your place in the world after everything in your life changes forever.”
Originally published by Comixology on their iPhone application and website, the graphic novel will cost $13 and is due in May. The complete solicitation text can be found after the jump.
Download Mass Effect: Redemption #1 from Dark Horse for free all day
Mass Effect #1
Dark Horse released the first issue of their four-issue Mass Effect: Redemption comic book on iTunes today. The story occurs between the first Mass Effect game and the second one, which came out last month.
And if you download it today, it’s absolutely free. So if you’re interested in checking it out, act quickly — this link will take you directly to iTunes.
I myself have not played Mass Effect, as I don’t have an Xbox 360, but I have been very addicted to another BioWare-created game, Dragon Age, on the Playstation 3. If it’s half as much fun shooting up aliens in Mass Effect as it is fighting Darkspawn in DA, then it’s probably worth checking out as well.
Slash Print | An iPad roundup, naturally, plus more
Echo on the iPad -- that was quick!
Tablets | Hey, guess what? Apple’s making headlines with a new product. On the heels of yesterday’s iPad announcement, Comic Book Resources and Newsarama both reach out to members of the comics industry to get their thoughts on the new device, from traditional publishers to digital comics companies. Rich Johnston has a collection of reactions from Twitter. Meanwhile, we heard from Dark Horse directly:
“We, like all publishers, are excited about this new format, and all of the possibilities which come along with it. We have already experienced great success with our existing iTunes program, and are excited to see just how this new interface will fit into our company’s overall digital strategy,” said Neil Hankerson, executive vice president of Dark Horse Comics.
Other links of note …
Slash Print | Following the digital evolution
Tablets | Jim Shelley talks to various digital comics folks, including Rantz Hoseley from LongBox Digital, Micah Baldwin from Graphic.ly and David Steinberger from comiXology, about the rumored Apple tablet. Check out part one, part two and part three.
Speaking of which, HarperCollins is talking to Apple about the tablet, according to the Wall Street Journal, and I thought this article on how Apple does controlled leaks was kind of interesting, in light of all the attention a device that doesn’t officially exist yet is getting.
Digital comics | If you’ve been wanting to check out Robot 13, Robot Comics released it on the iPhone last week. Check out a trailer here.
Digital comics | Disney has launched Italian and British websites for their Digicomics application.
Twitter | Congratulations to everyone behind the Twitter feed Fake AP Stylebook, who have landed a book deal with Three Rivers Press. Their line-up includes several former and current comics bloggers, including former Robot 6 contributor Lisa Fortuner, former Meanwhile… columnist Shane Bailey, retailer/blogger Mike Sterling, CBR reviewer/artist Benjamin Birdie and many more.
The Goon in 2010: iPhone + Buzzard miniseries
Goon on the iPhone
Dark Horse announced via press release today a few The Goon-related projects. First, The Goon is going digital, as they’ve made Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker and The Goon #7 available on iTunes. And second, creator Eric Powell is working not only on a Goon spinoff miniseries starring The Buzzard, but also on a new Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities miniseries.
From the press release:
Now, The Goon goes digital, as both Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker and The Goon #7, which features Hellboy, are made available on the iPhone platform. Chinatown marks Powell’s first self-contained graphic novel, which chronicles the earliest adventures of Goon and his wisecracking sidekick, Franky. After a new figure in the crime scene begins taking out the Goon’s business operations one by one, the Goon’s darkest moment comes back to haunt him, when his mind and body were left scarred . . . and his heart was left black. This new platform promises to expose an all-new readership to comics’ most beloved brute.
Not to worry, however: longtime fans will be rewarded with an all-new spinoff title based around Goon Year’s most notable character, Buzzard. Eric Powell gives one of his most beloved and mysterious characters his own highly anticipated, three-issue miniseries.
Following his brutal showdown with the loathsome Zombie Priest, Buzzard leaves his home, wandering aimlessly until he steps into the shadowy spirit realm of the forest. A dark path leads him to a small village living in fear of a bestial race of savages. More animal than man, these creatures hunt the villagers and drag them from their slumber in the depth of night.
“Buzzard has always been a personal favorite of mine from the Goon cast, and from the amount of requests I’ve gotten to give him his own series, I imagine he’s a favorite of the readers as well,” said Goon creator Eric Powell. “I’m really excited to finally be giving him his own story, along with the revival of Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities!”
For those who missed Goon Year, Dark Horse will be giving this twelve-issue story line the deluxe treatment with the release of Fancy Pants Edition Volume 3: Goon Year on July seventh. Powell’s all-new Buzzard series will arrive on shelves later this fall.
Look for news forthcoming on the return of the Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities short stories—a revival of the series from 2005 that paired Eric Powell with artist Kyle Hotz. The three-issue series will launch later this year.
Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker is available for download today in the iTunes store. For a limited time, this heart-wrenching story is available for the sale price of 1.99. In addition, the celebrated one-shot The Goon #7 is available for free download for the next three days.
For more information, visit www.darkhorse.com/features/mobile.
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
The W Files
Digital comics | A free digital comic starring Wallace & Gromit, the popular animated UK duo, has been downloaded more than 500,000 times since Nov. 7, leading one eBook blogger to wonder whether The W Files is the “FIRST eBook best-seller.” (If it’s free, can it still be considered a bestseller?) Released by Titan Publishing, the free iPhone app marks the 20th anniversary of Wallace & Gromit. Subsequent issues cost 99 cents each. [GalleyCat]
Digital comics | Marvel is giving away 1,000 one-year subscriptions for its Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited online service to enlisted military personnel through Jan. 7. [Air Force Times]
Naruto, Vol. 1: The Boy Ninja
Publishing | Reed Stevenson looks at the growth of manga in Europe, where the market is expanding at a pace of 10 percent to 15 percent each year: “Sales of printed manga books have fallen in Japan in recent years but grown elsewhere, particularly among European young people who are consuming such titles as Naruto, Fruits Basket and Death Note with the same appetite as an earlier generation showed for The Adventures of Tin Tin and The Adventures of Asterix. [Reuters]
Publishing | Retailer Christopher Butcher considers Dave Sim’s recent move to print on demand for back issues of Cerebus Archives. [Comics212]
Slash Print | Scott Kurtz to speak at Macworld (and more!)
PvP by Neal Adams
Webcomics | According to the Macworld web site, PvP creator Scott Kurtz will speak at the five-day Macintosh symposium.
“In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times and Macworld columnist Andy Ihnatko, Kurtz talks about what digital self-publishing means to creators and publishers, and how devices like the upcoming Apple Tablet could continue to tip the balance in favor of independent artists,” the description of his panel reads.
Also, if you haven’t been checking out PvP lately, Kurtz’s long-running webcomic has a holiday story running, drawn by comics legend Neal Adams. Check out the CBR interview for more information, and after the jump you’ll find a video of Adams drawing PvP.
Unbound: Ben Powis on the iPhone
Where Grows the Bitter Herb
Here’s a post-Thanksgiving special that won’t cost you a dime: Robot Comics is offering the iPhone/iPod Touch version of British artist Ben Powis’s Where Grows the Bitter Herb for free until December 8. Another Powis comic, Turtle Guitar, is always free. (Both comics are also available for Android at the standard price of 99 cents.)
Both stories are little folkloric tales brought to life with lovely art. Powis uses simple shapes with heavy outlines, textured backgrounds, and varied hatching to create comics panels that look like drawings from a picture book. The watercolor-like textures show up nicely on the backlit screen of the iPhone, and the panels also appear to be cropped differently than they were in the print edition of the book, providing a different type of reading experience.
Archie Comics releases Betty & Veronica Christmas Spectacular exclusively on iTunes
Betty & Veronica Christmas Spectacular
Archie Comics announced this week that they’ve released Betty & Veronica Christmas Spectacular exclusively on iTunes. The $1.99 application is available now.
Both Johanna Draper Carlson and Brigid Alverson offer commentary; Draper Carlson wonders why they’d limit it to the iPhone and iPod Touch, versus releasing it for other digital platforms. Considering Archie launched a web-based online comics initiative earlier this year, it seems like they’ve got a natural venue to make it available to iPhone-less folks as well (and maybe they will, soon).
Speaking of which, that site is currently selling pre-paid holiday gift cards, good for a one-year subscription to the site. They can be set as an e-card or as a full-color Christmas card that could be stuffed in somebody’s stocking.
Shoot alpaca with a shotgun in Roman Dirge’s upcoming iPhone game
Vampire Puff Puff
Destructoid reports that Roman Dirge is working on a new iPhone game called Vampire Puff Puff. The game stars Ragamuffin from his Lenore comics fighting the undead in an attempt to save Lenore. You can see additional screen shots by clicking on the above link.
Slash Print | Following the digital evolution
comiXology
Digital comics | Kiel Phegley talks to Ira Rubenstein, Marvel’s executive vice president of digital media, about their partnerships with comiXology, iVerse, ScrollMotion and Panelfly. comiXology, meanwhile, has added another Marvel title to their catalog this week — Civil War.
Digital comics | Don Reisinger over at CNET reviews several comics applications for the iPhone, including comiXology, Clickwheel, iVerse Comics and Comic Envi.